Thursday, December 29, 2011

MY FUTURE DEPENDS ON YOUR VOICE!

Meet Foal ~ Not Foal Meat! Click to get to my flickr photo stream.

Apparently foal meat is a delicacy sought after in foreign countries! The thought of our precious baby horses on the menu and dinner plate anywhere, especially abroad, is despicably heartbreaking! With slaughter on the table again in the USA, we must fight even harder for these precious innocents.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

“KEEP THEIR LIGHT SHINING!”ATTENTION: ALL WILD HORSE AND BURRO FRIENDS!UPON THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WILD FREE ROAMING HORSES & BURROS ACT OF 1971, PLEASE COME TO HONOR AMERICA’S WILD HORSES & BURROS & THEIR RIGHTFUL FREEDOM. BE PRESENT IN TESTIMONY AGAINST THEIR CURRENT OUTRAGEOUS TREATMENT & TO DEMAND MUCH NEEDED REFORM TO REINSTATE WILD HORSES & BURROS IN THE WILD WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN LARGELY & ILLEGALLY REPLACED. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE MAKE AN IMPRESSIVE SHOWING SO THAT THE TRUE INTENT OF THIS NOBLE ACT BE RESTORED, MEANING LARGER, TRULY LONG TERM VIABLE HERDS. WILD HORSE ANNIE WORKED TIREDLESSLY TO ACHIEVE THIS GROUNDBREAKING LEGAL PROTECTION & IT MUST NOT BE IGNORED. WE MUST LEARN TO SHARE FREEDOM WITH SUCH NOBLE & FREEDOM-DESERVING ANIMALS AS THESE.

DATE & TIME OF EPIC EVENT: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15TH, 2011. 4-7 PMPLACE OF EVENT: MEET AT COMMA COFFEE HOUSE AT 312 SOUTH CARSON STREET, CARSON CITY, NEVADA. THIS IS RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET (WEST SIDE) FROM THE NEVADA STATE LEGISLATURE BUILDING & GROUNDS & JUST SOUTH OF THE SILVER-DOMED CAPITOL

SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES:4-5 PM: SPEECH BY WILD HORSE ECOLOGIST/ENTHUSIAST CRAIG C. DOWNER, 4TH GENERATION NEVADAN, & AUTHOR OF 2 BOOKS ABOUT WILD HORSES & BURROS, ONE 4 YEARS IN WRITING, NOW BEING RELEASED. SPEECH WILL HIGHLIGHT THE POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS BY WILD HORSES & BURROS TO THE NORTH AMERICAN ECOSYSTEM & PROOFS THEY ARE NATIVE TO OUR CONTINENT, AS WELL AS EXPOSE OFFICIAL CORRUPTION IN THE PROGRAM WHILE OUTLINING AN INTELLIGENT SOLUTION TO REFORMING THIS ASPECT OF AMERICAN LIFE –ONE SO LINKED TO ITS SPIRIT & SOUL. SLIDE PHOTOS OF THE EXQUISITE WILD ONES IN THEIR BEAUTIFUL NATURAL HOMES THROUGHOUT NEVADA & THE WEST WILL ALSO BE SHOWN & QUESTIONS/COMMENTS ENTERTAINED.5-7 PM: CANDLELIGHT VIGIL ON SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF THE NEVADA STATE LEGISLATURE. THIS WILL HONOR THE TRUE MAGNIFICENCE OF WILD HORSES & BURROS LIVING IN FREEDOM & SIGNAL THE URGENT NEED TO RESTORE THE HEART OF THE LAW –TO RESTORE THE NOW LARGELY EMPTY LEGAL AREAS WITH WILD HORSES/BURROS IN THE WILD, ON BLM & U. S. FOREST SERVICE LANDS WITH FAIR RESOURCES ALLOWED FOR THEM BY OUR PUBLIC SERVANTS.7 ON: Get together for this wishing. For more information contact Craig at 775-901-2094; ccdowner@yahoo.com; or Cat kindsfather at ~ om.sweethome@yahoo.com

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

November 19th, 2011, marked the opening day of BLM's Calico roundups, again.

In 2010, 1,922 wild horses were taken from Calico Mountain HMA area, in one of the most controversial & deadliest roundups in history. Now the BLM is back, to take many more from thishalf million acre HMA, in the Black Rock Desert of Northern Nevada, the annual site of the Burning Man Festival.

Calico is now being called one of the "Treasured Landscapes" by the U.S. Government. ON November 19, 2011, in temperatures way below freezing, several bands were run in, chased for miles by the contractor's chopper. A light snow fell early that morning, making such a beautiful scene that was ruined by the sight of weary wild horses arriving at the trap site, menacing metal bird above them, whipping bitter winds on their backs, as the pure blanket of snow melted into strange forms.

This is my image of overheated Calico Complex wild horses in the trap site. They have just lost their freedom, following the judas horse into the trap in their last moments as a wild horses.

Keep calling, sending faxes, signing petitions, lobbying in D.C. , voicing for our wild horses & burros. Lets be sure they continue to live wild and free, as they should. Its up to us to make the history righteous. Save our wild herds, protect them as Congress intended in1971.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Terri Farley & Palomino Armstrong, two of my favorite angels rally in front of the Federal Courthouse, for the Triple B wild horses. We tried once again to stop a roundup. They went ahead with the roundup, after a short TRO was granted.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

These are Twin Peaks, California, wild horses being chased at full speed by a BLM contracted helicopter. They will loose their freedom forever in only minutes from the time of this shot. Their crime is none, their sentence is the torture of ~ loss of freedom on the range, on our tax funded public lands, loss of family and life as God planned it for them. The mares if pregnant, will give birth in the overcrowded corrals, boxes that are always full of manure, the piles of waste become pillows for their babies. Stallions will be gelded, loosing their ability to pass on their genes to new life. They will never see their mares or foals again. Mares will have their foals stripped from them, when they are 4 to 5 months old. All should be given 3 chances at adoption, except for those ten years and older, that can be sold immediately without restrictions! After 3 strikes at adoption, it is my understanding these horses are put in long term holding or sold without restrictions, regardless of age, health, rarity or beauty! Many will loose their lives in all of this processing. Disease, broken necks and backs, surgeries and other causes bring death & injury.

For most of us, this is all old news, redundant information. We must educate the masses that are not part of our well informed and hard working advocacy! We stand powerful in numbers. Use whatever means necessary to educate the masses. Our wild horses and burros stand on the brink of extinction. The BLM just got another 1.1 billion in funding to continue roundups, while our country is on the brink of collapse, Trillions in debt!!!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Truth Rally was hosted by "The Wild Horse Preservation League" on February 20th, 2010, in front of the Carson City Legislative building. The rally drew about 150 advocates, and two news crews, channels four and two.

Several drawings from local children were on display, along with informative brochures. Seasoned advocates were available to discuss wild horse & burro issues with the public.

It was a chilly day, but our hearts were warmed by the show of caring people, and the many honks for the horses from the stream of traffic on Carson St./395.

Even dogs carried signs pleading the case for the wild ones!

The tragedies occuring during the Calico Mountains Wild Horse roundups, mounting deaths and injuries, prompted us to rally to end the roundups and seek protection for the remaining herds on our public lands in the West, and elsewhere in the USA. This is a slide show of images I captured on that day. I made about twenty five of the signs. Death is not an option, neither are broken horses.

February 2011, is the one year anniversary of this rally, and marks one of the months of the Calico roundups also. Please see Elyse Gardner's blog for more history. Elyse Gardner/The Humane Observer. Also check Terri Farley's blog, & The Cloud Foundation.org.

There will be a huge rally for the wild horses and burros in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 11th, 2011, in front of the BLM's RAC meeting which is to be held on the 10th & 11th. Please try to make it. Share this news with all your friends! This may be our last stand to show that we want to save our wild ones from extinction!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

On Friday, February 4th, 2011, I got to work with Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue, processing adopted foals from a large group of 60 to 90 young horses, that Jill Starr had been given by the Paiute tribe in Nevada. The Paiute tribe was culling their wild horse herds, and sending many to auction! Kill buyers show up at these auctions, hoping to get a load to take to the slaughter houses in canada or Mexico! Jill Starr, owner of Lifesavers, negotiated with the tribe for these young ones. Thank God they gave them to her!

Terri farley, Dorothy Nylen and myself, rode out to Fallon and volunteered on Friday to help out in the process of tagging them for destinations in Florida and Missouri. Green & yellow grease marker numbered on their rumps, and spray paint on base of tails, designated for Missouri or Florida. Rod also adhered numbered tags on their rumps. She had about 3 guys and a few other woman to help out. The manager of this safe corral facility, John Holmes, was helping out also. Lifesavers had their own photographer, Suzie, a joy to meet. You can probably find some of her images on the Lifesavers fb page, & on Rachael Waller's also.

Rod Rondeaux & Terri Farley, coaxing them into the proper gates after tagging in the chute.

This was a very rewarding experience that I would be honored to volunteer for again. Heartwarming to know they did not wind up on someone's dinner plate somewhere! Lovin' the wild horses!!

A huge thank you to Jill Starr, and all the wild horse angels for helping these babies be safe from kill buyers!

The shot above, is of Terri Farley manning the gates, as this frisky confused baby, tries to go behind, instead of through. Terri rocks her cowgirl socks, and shows the foal the way! Be sure to checkout Terri Farley's blog. ( Google her name to find it. For some reason I can't get links in on this blog.) We had a great time, such a rewarding day. As of now, 2/28/11, I know that the ones bound for Missouri made it just fine.

Rod, Cat, Jill & Suzie @ the work table. This photo is by Dorothy Nylen, all others by Cat Kindsfather ~ copyright images.